Journal of Baltic Science Education

125-126

Authors: Editorial Board

Cover, JBSE, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2013

128-129

Authors: Ryszard M. Janiuk

Out-of-school learning has been playing an increasingly important role in science education. It can be implemented in various ways and encompasses learning activities that take place outside normal lessons reserved for compulsory education. This form of education is typically not coordinated by the school itself and young people take part in it voluntarily. It resembles “outdoor education”, which is, however, more closely linked with meeting aims stemming from formal education. Since the learning activities used in both forms of education are similar, very often solutions and experiences in one form are transferred to the other. Educators from many countries have shown considerable interest in out-of-school learning for many years. It is recommended in official documents concerning formal education and by organisations dealing with science education. Already in 1996, the National Science Education Standards, which are a set of guidelines for science education in primary and secondary schools in the United States, emphasised the importance of this method of expanding and supplementing students’ knowledge. Similarly, the materials for teachers accessible on the website of the Association for Science Education in the UK contain several useful tips concerning the use of out-of-school learning in science education.

139-151

Authors: Umesh Ramnarain

This study attempted to identify the achievement goal orientation of grade 12 Physical Sciences students from disadvantaged communities, and thereafter explain goal orientation by investigating its interaction with teacher, school and parent goal emphasis. The research adopted a mixed methods design involving first a quantitative survey of 300 students from 6 schools using an achievement goal questionnaire developed by Vedder-Weiss and Fortus (2010), followed by interviews with 12 students that served to explicate the trends revealed from the survey. A finding of this study was that disadvantaged Black students have a much stronger performance goal orientation in comparison to a mastery goal orientation. Students perceive the teacher, school and their parent to emphasize such a goal orientation. Despite disadvantaged students being motivated to perform well and achieve high marks in science, the dismal grade 12 results in the national Physical Sciences examination does suggest that a performance goal orientation of students may not be ideal.

159-177

Authors: Zeynep Aksan, Dilek Çelikler

Through this research, it was aimed to determine the Pre-Service Teachers’ perceptions and opinions about greenhouse effect. The research was carried out with 395 Pre-Service Elementary Teachers. The data in the research were collected through the questionnaire consisting of 36 items with likert type 5 related to greenhouse effect adapted into Turkish by Kılınç, Boyes and Stanisstreet (2008) developed by Boyes and Stanisstreet (1993) and an open-ended question. The quantitative data obtained from the questionnaire used in the research were analyzed using SPSS package program. The qualitative data obtained from an open-ended question were evaluated using the descriptive analysis technique. According to the results of the research, it has been observed that Pre-Service Teachers are not equipped with the sufficient knowledge about environmental problems. It has been concluded that Pre-Service Elementary Teachers established the false cause-effect relationship between environmental problems such as greenhouse effect, ozone layer problem, acid rain.

191-204

Authors: Kamisah Osman, Rian Vebrianto

The study focuses on how best to foster the science process skills and improving achievement of secondary schools students in Riau Indonesia. This research used a quasi-experiment method which involved two experimental groups and one control group. The first experimental group used an environment learning module based on Information Communication Technology (ICT), whilst the second experimental group used the environmental module without ICT. The third group went through the teaching and learning process using conventional methods. The instruments used were the Science Process Skills test and students’ achievement test. Analysis of the findings was done descriptively followed by subsequent inferential analysis using ANOVA and MANOVA tests. It was found that there exist significant differences in science process skills and achievement between the two experimental groups and the conventional group. Based on the findings, it is suggested that science teachers need to be adroit in varying their teaching approaches as well as orientating themselves in using ICT in their teaching.

219-233

Authors: Bih-Yaw Shih, Tsung-Hao Chen, Yevvon Yi-Chi Chang, Wen-Yaw Chung, Chen-Yuan Chen

More and more LEGO NXTs are applied to combine with different courses for designing multimedia instructional materials. Therefore, understanding the factors affecting the teachers’ intention of using Lego NXT has been an eager research issue. The purpose of the current research is to explore the teachers’ intention of using Lego NXT in primary school. A model combining the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as well as system and participant characteristics is proposed. Data were collected from forty seven primary school teachers in Kaohsiung and Pingtung county. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is used to test the hypothesis.

249-260

Authors: Huseyin Akkus

The purpose of this study is to explore pre-service secondary science teachers’ images of themselves as science teachers. Also, the association between instructional style, and domains was explored. 130 secondary science teachers (biology, chemistry and physics) from 26 public universities participated in the data collection for this study. The Draw a Science Teacher Test Checklist (DASTT-C) was used as a data collection instrument. The results of study showed that pre-service science teachers’ images is 24.62% student-centred, 53.85% between student and teacher-centred, and 21.4% teacher-centred teaching style approaches. A significant association was found between domain and instructional style. Pre-service chemistry teachers were more willing to use student-centred teaching style rather than pre-service biology and pre-service physics teachers.